all-american
/ˌɔl əˈmɛɹ.ɪ.kən/
Frequency: 5.45 in modern English
Meaning
adj
Comprising things that are wholly from the United States of America; completely made in the United States.
adj
Regarded as embodying the ideal qualities of the United States; typically American; (specifically) of a person: courageous, heroic; honest, wholesome, etc.
adj
Alternative letter-case form of All-American.
noun
A person or thing regarded as embodying the ideal qualities of the United States of America; typically American; (specifically) a person from the United States who is courageous, heroic, honest, wholesome, etc.
noun
Ellipsis of all-American athlete, player, team (chiefly sports), all-American boy, girl, person, or family (loosely, transferred sense)
noun
Alternative letter-case form of All-American.
Example Sentences
- ""All-American" Transformers. Perfected first, from the stand-point of correct engineering, by proper turns radio, impedance and shielding—then, in our latest models, given the finishing touches of outward beauty that the more critical eye demanded. […] Your dealer has "All-American" Transformers."
- "The DC-10 with a GE engine would be wrongfully touted as an all-American airplane. The GE engine was part French. The DC-10 had Italian fuselage sections. There was little awareness of the subcontracts with offshore suppliers."
- "One month director John Woo might be directing Jackie Chan in Rumble in the Bronx (1996), and the next an all-American cast in Broken Arrow (1999) or Face Off (2000),^([sic]) both with John Travolta."
- "Her name [Kate Spade] became a shorthand for the cute, clever bags that were an instant hit with cosmopolitan women in the early stages of their careers and, later, young girls — status symbols of a more attainable, all-American sort than a Fendi clutch or Chanel bag."
- "The [Davy] Crockett revival of the 1950's engineered by Walt Disney presented an all-American boy scout type as a mass-culture hero."
- "Amelia [Earhart] looked the part of an all-American girl—pretty, confident yet slightly demure, exhibiting not a trace of brashness."
Etymology
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌɔl əˈmɛɹ.ɪ.kən/
- British English: /ˌɔːl əˈmɛɹ.ɪ.kən/
Usage
- American usage